Every day, for myriad reasons, women are apologizing to me: for opening a door I am about to enter; for reaching over me at the salad bar; for standing in front of the open refrigerator and gazing at the variety of chilled milks. It's the same thing every time: A well-spoken, confident women will notice that we happen to be sharing the same space, cast her eyes downward, and mutter a quick and meaningless, "sorry." Most of the time, I say it back. It's nothing more than a ritual, a salutation, a paper-thin pleasantry. But she's not sorry. And I'm not sorry. So why are we saying that we are?

In our culture, it's become customary for a woman to apologize when she's done nothing wrong. And it diminishes the word's intended meaning. It's in the same vein as the "I feel like" verbal tic that Jezebel tackled last summer. The argument is that women use the prefix "I feel like" to defang an opinion. It's a get-out-of-jail-free card for a not-yet-validated argument. It's a cop out. And it's a lot like saying something cruel and then following it up with the (also nonsensical) lady-loved kicker, "I'm just saying."

Except we're not just saying, we're apologizing. For living our lives. For dressing our salads. For being lactose enthusiasts. Sorry, but I'm simply not sorry for any of those things. United we stand. Let's #bansorry together.